


Secret Cove

by kristsune



Series: Beyond the Sea au [23]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Horror, M/M, Suspense, ancient unknown creatures, and will not stand it coming for his kids, don't worry happy ending all around, jango is done with this creature's shit, jesse is so in tune with the ocean, well mostly unknown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-29 22:46:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15738864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kristsune/pseuds/kristsune
Summary: Jesse and Kix find a new cove, and find more than they were expecting.





	Secret Cove

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Starofwinter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starofwinter/gifts).



> prompt from tumblr: ""Taking a swim on an uninhabited plot of beach, noticing ripples in the water" for the BtS verse? :D
> 
> Ended up with jessix because i some how i end up writing about them most in this verse. Not upset about it. Also featuring dad!Jango because i love him.

Jesse held a branch aside to let Kix by on the overgrown trail they had found. It had started as a walk along the beach but the tide had come in faster than usual and cut off their path, so they headed inland a bit to find a way to the next stretch of sand. They weren’t  _ lost _ , not really, but they weren’t familiar with this part of the island. Which was a strange thing in itself, Jango had made sure they were all well acquainted with all parts of the island. 

They stepped out from the trail to a pristine stretch of beach, complete with a protected cove, almost no surf disturbing its smooth surface. The water was dark, and difficult to see through, but it was likely just an unusually deep cove.

“Oh wow, this is perfect! Come on, let’s go for a swim.” Kix was already taking off his shirt to hang on a branch before wading in. 

Something nagged at Jesse as he walked at a more sedate pace to join Kix. It  _ was _ perfect, almost  _ too _ perfect. How had they never found this cove before? Why had Jango never told them or showed this to them if he had known about it?

As soon as Jesse’s feet hit the water, all his concerns disappeared, why would it matter if Jango had known about this? They found it now, and it was perfect, just for them. Jesse swam out to meet Kix who was smiling and waiting for him. 

Jesse had just reached him when some movement caught his eye. There were ripples in the water just at the opening at the cove. It was the first real movement Jesse had seen since they got there. Jesse abruptly realized he hadn’t even heard any bird or insect calls at all, hadn’t seen any signs of wildlife since the tide started coming in too fast.

Jesse’s stomach dropped, this was  _ wrong _ . The cove was wrong, the  _ water _ was wrong. Jesse couldn’t feel it the way he usually did, he  _ always _ felt a response from the ocean ever since he was small, and this didn’t react to him  _ at all _ , which freaked him out more than anything else. 

Jesse saw the ripples coming closer. “We gotta go, Kix. We gotta go now.” 

“But we just got in.” Even Kix sounded off. His voice had a dreamy quality to it and a distant almost vacant look on his face. Something about this place was affecting his  _ riddur _ , and that was something he would not stand for. 

Jesse tugged his arm and Kix finally started to swim with him getting back to shore as quick as they could. The one time Jesse looked back, the ripples were getting larger, and gaining on them. He didn’t bother wasting his breath telling Kix to hurry, he just pulled him up as they reached shallow enough water to gain their feet. 

Jesse didn’t stop running until they got back to where where they entered the cove, the trail was completely overgrown and the only thing that even showed where they had entered was Kix’s shirt hanging off a low branch. Jesse snagged it as he shoved his way through the branches, pulling Kix along behind him, heedless of how the branches scraped and pulled at them. It felt as if they were trying to hold them back, to keep them from escaping the cove. 

Jesse was very glad of his extra muscle as they burst from the clinging treeline, panting and out of breath. Jesse looked back only to be confronted with the usual gentle treeline, none of the dense, low branched trees he  _ knew _ they just ran through, he had the cuts and scrapes over his chest and arms to prove it. He looked over to Kix to ask what he remembered, but his head was in his hands.

“Kixystix, are you okay?” Jesse couldn’t keep the worry out of his voice, he still had no idea what kind of spell that place had put on them. 

“Yeah, I think so. My head hurts, and I can’t remember what we were doing and why I hurt and am out of breath.” Jesse gave him a quick once over, making sure there was no major physical damage, it looked like he took the brunt of the scrapes from their headlong run, but Kix still had his fair share. 

That was as far as Jesse got when Jango came running up to them with a worried look on his face. “Where have you been? Are you alright?” 

Jesse was thrown off by the first question, and the fierce hug he gave each of them, but figured he could answer the second, “Yeah, Dad. I think we are, now.”

“Now? Tell me everything.” 

And Jesse did, making sure not to leave anything out, including how he felt during the entire ordeal. Kix still couldn’t remember much, and was leaning into Jesse’s side. 

Jango’s face got more and more stony as Jesse went on, and released an impressive string of swears when he finally finished. 

“Everything alright?” Jesse had never really seen him react that strongly before.

Jango snarled, “It will be. I banished that creature from here years ago. It should have known better than to come back. I’ll take care of it, you just get Kix back safe, it can take a lot out of some people.” 

Jesse grasped his wrist before he turned, “Are you sure you don’t want help? I could come with you?”

Jango’s expression softened and he rested his hand on Jesse’s cheek, “Thank you, but no. You did good, son, getting you and Kix back here is impressive on its own.  I can handle it from here. I’m stronger now than I was when I had to deal with it the last time. I’ll stop by afterwards, and check in on you and Kix, okay?”

Jesse nodded and watched Jango turn back to the forest, it  _ shimmered _ and Jango disappeared. 

“Come on, Kixystix, lets get you home.” Jesse lifted a woozy Kix into his arms, mindful of both of their scratches, and carried him back to their hut.  
  


 

Jesse startled from his light doze when Jango knocked, and let himself into their hut. He had bandaged his own and Kix’s cuts as best he could, and let Kix sleep, the entire ordeal had completely exhausted him. 

Jesse did a quick assessment, and found nothing out of the ordinary, except Jango looked exhausted. “Is it gone?”

Jango ran his hand over Kix’s brow softly before he sat down heavily in the chair next to Jesse, “It’s gone, that creature won’t be back again. Made sure of it this time.”

Jesse released the tension in his shoulders he hadn’t even realized he had been holding, relieved that Jango was able to protect them from the possibility of encountering that again. 

“Thank you, Dad.”

Jango reached out and rested his hand on Jesse’s arm, “I’m proud of you. You did very well today, getting you and Kix out of there. That was a very old, very powerful entity, breaking free of it the way you did is not an easy task.”

Jesse smiled softly and rested his other hand on top of Jango’s. He turned back to watch Kix sleep, feeling his own eyelids drooping until he heard soft snoring from the chair next to him. Jesse messaged Mischief make sure to have Boba over for a sleepover with Rabble and Loudmouth. He didn’t think Dad, Kix or himself would be useful for the rest of the night.


End file.
